


(re)union

by one_more_offbeat_anthem



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Getting Together, Love Confessions, Post-Canon, gratuitous use of ihop as a plot device
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:14:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29464077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/one_more_offbeat_anthem/pseuds/one_more_offbeat_anthem
Summary: “I missed you,” Dean says, which whoa, that’s not how he meant to respond, but it’s honest so he keeps going. “I missed you so much. And now you’re here, and it’s--” He looks Cas up and down. “You’re here for real, right? Like you’re not going to leave?”A few months after Cas gets taken by the Empty, Dean gets a call from an unknown number.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester
Comments: 15
Kudos: 205
Collections: Profound Bond Gift Exchange: Reunion





	(re)union

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Looks_Clear (chrysalisdreams)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chrysalisdreams/gifts).



> this was written for the profound bond server exchange (this round's theme: reunion), and boy gee howdy was it fun to do! this one goes out to my giftee, the lovely cris, and I hope you enjoy it! I was a bit stumped on what to write until I saw a broken ihop sign while I was out one day--classic writer inspiration xP 
> 
> if you're 18+ and you like destiel, [join us at profound bond!](https://discord.gg/profoundbond) we're good fun :)
> 
> if you liked this, i post more stuff here sometimes and also on [my tumblr](https://one-more-offbeat-anthem.tumblr.com) :)
> 
> and finally, a shoutout to my betas stonylovestory and [strzyga](https://archiveofourown.org/users/strzyga/pseuds/strzyga) :)

The “O” on the iHop sign is broken.

It keeps flickering in and out, and Dean wonders when it’ll stop doing that, when the neon blue light won’t come on again. 

He’s been waiting in front of this iHop for forty-eight minutes--not that he’s been counting. He turned off the Impala to save gas but now he can feel his toes starting to freeze and his legs getting stiff. He’s not as young as he used to be. 

When he got the call from an unknown number--well, when he got six calls in a row and answered the seventh one--and the voice on the other end said it was Cas, that he was in Salina, about an hour away, that the woman at the iHop in the strip mall had let him use her phone, Sam and Eileen had offered to go with him.

Sam had tried to bring up Lucifer and how he’d managed to get in the bunker using Cas’ voice, but Dean didn’t want to listen to it, so he drove to Salina even though the chances of it  _ really  _ being Cas were just about zero, with his leg jiggling and the radio turned off. 

And now he’s been waiting for...forty-nine minutes. No Cas. 

He’s not going to show up, is he? Dean had gotten his hopes up, and now he’s going to be left alone. Again. 

Cas’ confession, no, his  _ declaration,  _ has replayed in Dean’s head ever since it happened, since Cas had--

Dean can’t think about that right now. 

The fact of the matter was that this was what his life had boiled down to: him, alone every night except for his dog, turning over and over in his mind the way he’d fucked up the past twelve years, feeling bitter and then guilty about his brother’s happiness. Finding Eileen had been so simple once Jack had snapped everyone back. Jack dropped around the bunker sometimes, but it was hard for Dean to look at him and not see all of his mistakes, to not feel like it was his own damn fault that Cas was gone. 

There’s a sudden knock on his window, and Dean rolls it down to see a young woman in an iHop uniform, with a name tag that says  _ Natalie.  _ It’s nearly one in the morning, and her eyes are tired and hooded as she says, “Are you here for the homeless guy?”

“The--” Dean gulps.  _ Homeless guy  _ makes him think of another time he let Cas down, but he pushes the thought aside. “Dark hair? Blue eyes?”   


The waitress--Natalie--nods. “He’s been sitting in the corner booth for two hours.”

_ Oh,  _ Dean thinks,  _ he expected me to come inside. So he must think that I didn’t come.  _

“I’m sorry,” Dean says, already grabbing his keys and starting to open the Impala’s door. “I thought he would come outside. He’s not...homeless.”

“He said he didn’t have a phone or anywhere to go.”

“He lives with me,” Dean explains as the waitress leads him inside. “He went missing.” Better, than the truth, that he-- “I’d given up all hope of finding him.” 

As soon as Dean walks in and the bell on the iHop’s door chimes, Cas’ eyes dart to him and then widen. Cas has more stubble than usual, and his trenchcoat is ripped, his tie loose, his white button-down more of a brown, but he’s  _ here _ , and it takes all of Dean’s self-control not to have a stupid rom-com moment and run to him. 

Although it’s not like there’s anyone else there besides Natalie.

Instead, Dean walks to the booth where Cas is sitting and slides in across from him. “Heya, Cas,” Dean says softly. “You alright?”

Cas nods once, then shakes his head. “How are you, Dean?” His voice is somehow gruffer than usual, like he gargled some gravel on his way here. 

“I missed you,” Dean says, which  _ whoa,  _ that’s not how he meant to respond, but it’s honest so he keeps going. “I missed you so much. And now you’re here, and it’s--” He looks Cas up and down. “You’re here for real, right? Like you’re not going to leave?”

Cas shakes his head, and then tilts it up. Dean can see a thin scar across his neck. “I’m here,” Cas says.

“You’re human.”

Cas nods. “For good.” 

“What--what happened? Tell me everything.” 

Over a one-in-the-morning breakfast of coffee for both of them, waffles with strawberries and whipped cream for Cas, and some eggs and bacon for Dean, Cas explains that the Empty was a bit noisy when he got there, and eventually it wanted to spit some people out of existence to clear things up. Apparently Jack had gotten down just in time and calmed things down--and then taken Cas with him.

“He said--” Cas falters, looks up at Dean. “He said my story wasn’t over.”

“It’s not. I--” Dean takes a sip of his coffee, sets it down, pushes his now-empty plate away. “I need to tell you something, Cas. Something I was too scared to say until you were gone.” 

Cas settles back in his seat, which is oozing stuffing, his gaze open. Dean swallows and starts talking.

“I don’t…I’m not okay when you’re gone. When you walked into that lake with the Leviathans? I carried your coat around for a year--but we weren’t in the Impala all year, we kept having to steal and then ditch cars because things were...you know. Bad. But I couldn’t let it go, because then you’d be gone for real. And when I left you behind in purgatory…” Dean sees Cas open his mouth to contradict, and cuts across him. “I know that’s not what really happened. But I  _ thought  _ it was, y’know? I convinced myself it was my fault, because the alternative was...I couldn’t think about it. But before you came back, I kept seeing you everywhere. On the side of the road. In the mirror. Out the window. I didn’t believe it was you when you came back, not at first.”

Cas nods, as if he’s telling Dean to keep going. Dean takes a deep breath. 

“And when Lucifer was possessing you...I was so angry. I hated that bastard for being in your body, hated looking in your eyes and not seeing you. It only made it worse when he was the reason you died…” Dean is starting to cry now, he can feel it, so he scrubs his eyes with the back of his hand. “I carried your body inside and wrapped it up by myself. I couldn’t leave you alone. And before you came back, I asked Billie to...well, I was working on a case with Sam, and she saw what I felt…” He can’t look at Cas anymore, but he has to keep talking. He can’t keep hiding this anymore, not if he might not have another chance to say it. “I didn’t want to live anymore. I didn’t think it was worth it. And since the Empty took you, I’ve been…” Dean laughs, but it’s hollow. “Sam and Eileen can tell you. It’s been bad. I’ve been...yeah.” 

A hand nudges his own, and Dean looks down to see Cas’ hand, outstretched, with some napkins in it. Dean takes them and presses them against his eyes, even though the gesture is releasing a fresh wave of tears. 

“You know,” Cas says calmly, as if they’re discussing the weather instead of all the times Cas has died, “When I tried to kill you in the crypt, I’d been forced to kill thousands of copies of you.”

“ _ What _ ?” Dean’s eyes snap up to meet Cas’. “No. You’re kidding.”

Cas shakes his head. “I just thought you would like to know.”

“That was what, seven years ago? Eight? Jesus.” Dean wipes his eyes again. “We’ve really been through it, huh?”

Cas nods again. It seems to be his thing tonight. 

“I guess what I’m trying to say is that…” God, this is harder than Dean thought it would be--not that he’s thought about it a lot, what with Cas being supposedly permanently gone. “I love you. Back. Too?” The words get caught on his tongue, and then  _ fuck  _ he’s crying again. 

He hears a squeak of vinyl, and then his side of the booth sinks slightly as Cas slides into it, presses himself close to Dean, as if he’s trying to say without words that it’s  _ okay _ .

Because it is, right?

Dean looks up at Cas, sees that he has tears in his eyes too, and laughs. “Let’s go home,” Dean says.

\----------------------------

By the time they get back to the bunker, it’s nearly four in the morning, and at this point Dean has half the mind to just stay up for the rest of the day. However, when he walks down the stairs into the war room, he sees that Sam’s still awake, sitting at the table and staring up at Dean, and then his eyes widen as Cas appears. 

Sam scrambles out of his chair and runs up the stairs before pulling both Dean and Cas into a bone-crushing hug. When he pulls away, his grin is broad despite the sleepiness Dean can see in his eyes.

“Eileen’s asleep,” Sam says, “But I had to wait up and see.”  _ I had to wait up and see if your heart was going to get broken again  _ is the unspoken extra phrase. Dean understands. 

“Speaking of sleep,” Dean says, “We’re gonna get some.” His idea of staying up vanished as soon as he came inside and stopped for a minute, letting the weariness settle into his bones. Before Sam can say anything else, he grabs Cas’ wrist and drags him out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom. 

“This isn’t my room,” Cas says mildly, and Dean rolls his eyes.

“I know. But whatever happened to you after you got out of the Empty...no offense, man, but you smell.” Dean gestures to the shower. “You alright to get yourself cleaned up?”

Cas nods.

“Okay. I’m gonna go find you some clothes.” Dean smiles at Cas, he can’t help it, Cas is  _ alive  _ and  _ human  _ and--

It’s a lot, but in a good way.

Dean leaves the bathroom for his bedroom and rummages through his dresser until he finds clean boxers, socks, pajama pants, and a t-shirt for Cas. Cas is a little broader-chested than him, so they should probably take him shopping for his own stuff, but it’ll do for now. Dean also takes the time to put on his own pajamas before heading out of his room.

When Dean gets back to the bathroom, Cas is still in the shower, the hot water fogging up the mirrors. Dean tries not to stare at Cas when he steps out and grabs a towel, because despite the confession they still haven’t gotten around to talking about the  _ everything else  _ yet, but it’s hard. Cas is blushing, but he takes the clothes Dean offers and puts them on. 

Then it’s just them, in the quiet room, only a few feet apart, and Dean hesitates, because he’s not sure  _ what  _ he’s allowed to do, so instead of crossing the distance and kissing Cas or hugging him or something, he grabs Cas by the wrist again and pulls him down the hall to his room. 

“This still isn’t my room,” Cas says, staring at Dean’s unmade bed and the collection of beer bottles on the nightstand and Miracle asleep on her dog bed in the corner. “And there’s a dog.”

“Yeah,” Dean clears his throat. “This is Miracle.” At the sound of her name, the dog’s head perks up, and after a few seconds of blinking she practically launches herself at Dean, who pushes her down and then kneels on the ground to pet her. “I got her...after you left.” He turns his head to look up at Cas. “And I was sort of hoping...that this could, y’know, be our room. Or something. Unless you don’t want--” 

Cas is crying.

“Cas?” Dean stands up, releasing Miracle, and puts his hands on Cas’ shoulders. “Are you okay?”

Cas hiccups. “I just didn’t think this could ever happen, and now I can’t tell if it’s real, or--”

Dean pulls him into his arms, hugging him. “Y’know,” Dean says into Cas’ shoulder, “A guy I know once told me that we  _ were  _ real.”

“You didn’t believe me then.”

“I can be shitty sometimes.”  _ But I’m going to try harder and be better for you.  _

Dean guides Cas to bed, tells Miracle to settle down, turns off the lights, and then climbs in, tentatively pressing himself against Cas’ back and putting an arm around Cas’ waist. Cas interlaces their fingers, and then he’s out like a light. Dean isn’t far behind.

\----------------------------

After their impromptu iHop reunion, they settle into a routine. Cas takes Miracle on walks in the morning, and she’s  _ obsessed  _ with him. Dean tries to teach Cas to make pie, with mixed results. Jack comes back to visit and stays for pizza dinner, Dean and Cas binge-watch  _ Dr. Sexy  _ in the Deancave, all of them take a Saturday to go to the farmer’s market in Hastings (Eileen and Dean spend most of it watching Sam and Cas commune with the vegetables or something), and it’s just so goddamn domestic that Dean doesn’t know what to do with himself. 

They kiss for the first time when Dean gets Cas to come with him to the grocery store, in the cereal aisle. It’s a quick, chaste thing, just the barest press of lips, but Dean nearly tackles Cas when they get back to the Impala because he wants  _ more _ . 

Dean’s insistent that he’s not going to screw this up, so he tries to take Cas on “real” dates, but he also takes him everywhere--the grocery store, the gas station, the library (where Cas picks up stacks of trashy mystery novels and plows through them with abandon), the dog park, and anywhere else two people can go. 

It isn’t until it’s been a few months since Cas came back that they sleep together,  _ really  _ sleep together, for the first time. Dean hasn’t had sex in years, and certainly not with someone he really loves in a much longer time. His-- _ their  _ room is dark, lit only by the vial of Cas’ grace that sits on the dresser, and the press of Cas’ hands, persistent but gentle, is overwhelming in the best way. Afterwards, they shower together, and Dean marvels over the way that he’s just allowed to trace Cas’ form with his eyes. 

It’s never been this good for Dean, not ever. They still take the occasional hunt, because he’s not sure he could ever  _ fully  _ retire, but they also have movie nights, and double dates with Eileen and Sam, and Jack visits more and more as he gets his footing in the whole being-God thing, and Cas gets better at cooking and baking (although it helps if Dean tries not to actively distract him). 

He and Cas almost never run out of things to talk about, and when they do, the silence is comfortable. Dean discovers that Cas has  _ preferences _ \--about film genres and pretzel shapes and the texture of soup and toothpaste brands and how the inside of his sweatshirts feel--and it’s so incredibly human that it makes his chest ache. 

About six months after Cas comes back, Dean wakes up in the middle of the night to an empty bed, and a kind of panic sets in that he hasn’t felt in a while.  _ Cas is gone,  _ he thinks.  _ He’s been taken away from me again _ . 

He forces his breathing to steady, grabs his robe and shoves his feet into a pair of socks and his boots, and leaves their room. 

Cas isn’t anywhere in the bunker, and Dean feels the panic increasing, his heart race bouncing. As a last ditch, he leaves the bunker, and that’s when he sees him--Cas is laying on the grass, staring at the stars.

“Hey,” Dean says softly, laying down beside him and taking Cas’ hand in his. Cas rubs a thumb over his wrist.

“Your heart is beating really fast,” Cas notes.

“I--” Dean swallows. “I got worried.”

“I’m sorry.” Cas rolls toward him, resting his head on Dean’s chest. “I just wanted to look at the sky.”

Dean lets his hand card through Cas’ dark hair (which is actually starting to grey a little, which Dean sort of likes). “S’okay.”

“Mmm.” 

An idea occurs to Dean. 

“Hey, Cas, why don’t we get married?”

Cas props himself up on an elbow and tilts his head. “Okay?”

“Just...okay?”

“How about  _ of course _ ?” Cas sighs at Dean and smiles. “Or  _ yes _ ?”

“I like that last one.” Dean pulls Cas down for a kiss.

Eventually, they go back inside, the night air too chilly. The next morning, they tell Sam, Eileen, and Jack. Two weeks later, they get married at the courthouse with some forged documents, and even though in the grand scheme of things it’s little, seeing as they’ve died for each other, sacrificed themselves for each other, literally been to hell and back, that silver band on Dean’s left ring finger means the world. 

He never feels lost again. 

**Author's Note:**

> (it's actually incidental that this includes marriage at the end, but the destiel wedding yesterday was a blast, so consider this a shoutout!)


End file.
